It is advisable to trademark your logo before incorporating your business. Trademarking helps protect your brand identity and prevents others from using a similar logo. It provides legal protection and can be a valuable asset as your business grows.
As previously explained, although use of a trademark symbol is not required by law in the U.S., there are many benefits to doing so.
A unique logo can be trademarked by registering it with the USPTO. Anyone can apply online if their business is based in the U.S. Businesses outside the U.S. will need to hire a USA-based attorney to file.
Canva's logo templates are customizable and can be used by anyone. This means that your rights to the logo are non-exclusive and you can't register it as a trademark.
The trademark office will then evaluate your application to see if it qualifies for trademark protection. Best of all, they will not consider the other business who is using the same name if they haven't filed for trademark protection. This means you can get a trademark even if someone else is using your business name.
It depends. Higher value tends to lie in name recognition rather than familiarity of a logo. Since logos change more often than names, it usually makes more sense to register a standard character mark to protect the business moniker itself.
The cheapest way to get a trademark is to file a state trademark application, which is typically less expensive than a federal trademark application.
Texas registrations expire after 5 years unless the registrant submits a renewal to our office during the last 6 months of the 5-year registration period. A mark must still be in use at the time of the renewal. See Form 902. Owners of registered marks are responsible for enforcing their rights to their marks.
You may use a trademark symbol anywhere around your trademark, although most trademark owners put the symbol in a superscript or subscript to the right of their trademark. You can use “TM” for goods or “SM” for services.
Search for registered Trademarks under the Search & Order Records tool.